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Ian McKellen Sitcom ‘Vicious’ Debuts On UK’s ITV: Video

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Tuesday April 30, 2013 @ 3:07am PDTTags: Ian McKellen, ITV, Vicious

Britain last night tuned into a sitcom in the same time slot that drama Broadchurch occupied for eight weeks until last Monday. Family Guy and Will & Grace exec producer Gary Janetti’s sitcom Vicious premiered at 9 PM drawing 5.7M viewers for a 24% share. That’s down about 3.5M from the Broadchurch finale which gripped UK viewers last Monday, but still enough for Vicious to win the hour. It was also the highest-rated comedy launch on any UK channel this year. The six-part comedy stars veteran British thesps Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi as a constantly bickering couple who’ve lived together in a small London flat for nearly 50 years. Reviews have so far been pretty mixed. There’s no U.S. outlet yet:

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MIPTV Briefs: Gary Janetti’s ‘Vicious’ Debuts; ‘Cybergeddon’ Does TV; Nordics, Latin America Hot On Formats

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Wednesday April 10, 2013 @ 11:36am PDTTags: Big Deals TV, Cybergeddon, Ian McKellen, MIPTV

In yet another type of cross-border series – this one a sitcom – Family Guy and Will & Grace exec producer Gary Janetti’s Vicious premiered for buyers at Mip-TV last night. The six-part comedy stars veteran British thesps Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi in quite a departure from the likes of X-Men and Shakespeare. The pair plays a constantly bickering, but ultimately loving couple who’ve lived together in a small London flat for nearly 50 years. Their young upstairs neighbor is played by Misfits‘ Iwan Rheon and their best friend by Frances de la Tour of the Harry Potter films. Shine Group’s Brown Eyed Boy produced the show in association with Kudos Film and TV and Nickelby Inc. for the UK’s ITV. In keeping with current hit UK sitcoms like Mrs. Brown’s Boys, it’s shot in front of a live studio audience. There’s no U.S. outlet yet, but a deal was just concluded with Australia’s Seven Network. In a big push, Brown Eyed Boy’s Gary Reich, who’s co-producing with Janetti, says ITV will start trailering the series in British moviehouses and in video ads in the London Underground before the primetime debut later this year. Read More »

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Ian McKellen And Patrick Stewart To Star In A Pair Of Broadway Plays

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Friday January 25, 2013 @ 4:54am PSTTags: Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, X-Men: Days Of Future Past

Magneto and Professor Xavier are heading to Broadway. While a who’s who of UK talent gets set to tread the West End boards over the next year, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart have … Read More »

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Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi Move In Together For Gary Janetti’s ITV Comedy ‘Vicious’

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Monday November 5, 2012 @ 3:38am PSTTags: Derek Jacobi, Ian McKellen, ITV

Fresh from his latest turn as Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s Hobbit movies, Ian McKellen is headed to the small screen. He’ll star with Derek Jacobi in ITV sitcom Vicious, from Family Guy and Will & Grace producer Gary Janetti. Janetti … Read More »

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Ian McKellen Explains Middle Earth Muddle

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday January 13, 2011 @ 3:34am PSTTags: Ian McKellen, Movie Deals, Movies, Peter Jackson, Peter Jackson The Hobbit, The Hobbit, The Hobbit Casting, The Hobbit Production
Mike Fleming

Ian McKellen, who along with Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis and Cate Blanchett formalized his return to Middle Earth to reprise his The Lord of the Rings character Gandalf, has taken to his own blog to explain … Read More »

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Warner Bros Taking WW Distribution (And Paying For) ‘The Hobbit’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday January 6, 2011 @ 1:01pm PSTTags: Andy Serkis, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, MGM, Movie Deals, Orlando Bloom The Hobbit, Peter Jackson, Peter Jackson The Hobbit, The Hobbit, The Hobbit Finance, Warner Bros, Warner Bros The Hobbit Finance
Mike Fleming

UPDATE: I’ve learned that Warner Bros will, in fact, pay the entire cost of the two installments of The Hobbit, a price-tag that is expected to exceed $500 million. Now, the question will be which cast members from … Read More »

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